We hams sometimes have trouble with matters of "ownership" in certain parts of our hobby. For
example, while we generally own the equipment
in our stations, we don't "own" our licenses or our
callsigns, even though, for many of us, our calls have
become part of our identities and changing a call is akin
to changing your name. But "our" calls aren't really ours.
Amateur licenses and callsigns are granted (in the U.S.)
by the FCC, which can also take them away. There is
no inalienable right to have a ham license or a particular
callsign.

We certainly don't "own" our frequencies, despite the fact that there are those among us who feel otherwise.
All amateur bands are shared with the rest of the amateur
population, and in the case of 60 meters and most
UHF bands, with other radio services. Plus, as with our
licenses and callsigns, what the FCC giveth, the FCC
can also taketh away (operate on 220-222 lately?).

On the other hand, certain things in amateur radio are owned, and there seems to be some confusion at the
moment over who owns what. For example, as this is
written in late July, there is a dispute going on between
the ARRL and some of its volunteers in the National
Traffic System (NTS). Earlier in the month, the ARRL
Executive Committee removed an NTS area director for
allegedly making unauthorized commitments on behalf
of ARRL to FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. This has created quite a backlash among
some other NTS leaders, including calls for a "declaration
of independence," a petition drive at change.org
calling for more "transparency" by the ARRL board of
directors and a shutdown of some upper-level NTS operations.
The former area director who was "fired" has filed
a federal lawsuit against the League, alleging defamation.
The other two area directors have since resigned.

From reading through various emails and newsletters on the subject, it is clear to us that this whole mess is
the result of making inaccurate assumptions, jumping
to conclusions about motivations, and blowing opportunities
to resolve the issue amicably, with plenty of blame
to go around on both sides. It is a classic case of trained
communicators failing to communicate.

We have no intention of taking sides in this internal ARRL squabble, but one thing is clear: Whether or not
the decision was the right one to make, the League's
executive committee was totally within its rights to make
it. NTS is an integral part of the ARRL's field organization,
and the League's rules and regulations for its field
organization clearly state that any appointment may be
canceled by the ARRL Executive Committee if it feels
the action would be "in the best interest of the ARRL."
One may agree or disagree with the wisdom of the committee's
action, but there is no question that it had the
authority to take that action.

As ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, explained in
an email to NTS leaders, "NTS is not a stand-alone organization.
It is a program of the American Radio Relay
League." In fact, it is a program that is as old at the
League itself, which was founded more than 100 years
ago to formalize a network of message relay stations
across the country (that's where the "Relay" in the
ARRL's name comes from). NTS is not only a program
of the ARRL, it is a linchpin of the League's history. The
ARRL "owns" it, just as it "owns" ARES, the Amateur
Radio Emergency Service. Both of these services are
administered primarily by volunteers, most of whom
have been given a great deal of autonomy. But that
doesn't change the fact that NTS and ARES are programs
of the ARRL, and that the ARRL is ultimately
responsible for their actions.

(By the way, this is not exclusively an ARRL issue. We have occasionally found it necessary to remind some of
the wonderful volunteers on our contest and award committees
that administering a program on a day-to-day
basis, even for a long time, does not give one ownership
of that program. CQ's contests and awards are programs
of CQ magazine and thus are owned by the magazine,
not by their administrators or the participants. We
also need to occasionally remind readers that purchasing
a copy of this magazine does not give them ownership
of the information inside it, nor the right to scan articles
— or entire issues — and post them online without
our permission. The contents of this magazine are the
intellectual property of CQ and/or the articles' authors,
and protected by copyright laws.)

Returning briefly to the NTS mess, our hobby cannot afford to have in-fighting among various constituencies
and interest groups. As Buffalo Springfield
sang in "For What It's Worth" back in the '70s …
"Nobody's right if everybody's wrong." It sure looks to
us like everybody's wrong to one degree or another in
this case, and the worst part is that it makes amateur
radio look bad in the eyes of one of our major government
partners, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. Everybody needs to move beyond the infighting
and the turf wars and work together to create a unified
amateur radio response network that makes the
best use of everyone's skills and training. It is too bad
that this couldn't have happened before there were "firings,"
resignations, and lawsuits.

Hall of Fame Authors

In this issue, we're honored to start things out with articles by two recent inductees to the CQ Amateur Radio
Hall of Fame. David Dary, W5ZAX, recalls "the day the
FCC came knocking" and how his early, unknowing
and very brief experience in pirate radio led to a lifetime
in amateur radio, a career in broadcast journalism
and journalism education, and becoming a highly-
regarded writer on the American West. Next, Keith
Lamonica, W7DXX, relates the story behind the first
remotely-controlled amateur radio station accessed
via the internet, as well as its current status and future
plans. The concept of remote operating is revolutionizing
amateur radio and making it possible for many
people in antenna-restricted homes to get on the air
and remain active hams.

We've also got the SSB results of the 2016 CQWW WPX Contest, the conclusion of our three-part series on
the first 90 years of Army MARS … and its new role for
the future in fighting cyberterrorism. We also review the
DV4mini for digital voice with a Raspberry Pi, and in our
cover story, explore what goes into setting a new DX
record on one of our "frontier" bands, 47 GHz. We hope
you enjoy these articles and the rest of this issue.